Barry S. Strauss

Ian Morris writes, the balance of probability seems to be in favor of a consistent basis to the society of the poems derived from Greece in the eighth century B.C., which would be at the end of the period we've been talking about, the transition to the world of the polis, Homer's own time when he lived and rose.

Finally, Barry Strauss says, ironically, the more Homer exaggerates, the more authentic he is as a representative of the Bronze Age.

So, what do we do? Well, all of these are learned and clever men, but I don't think that they're all equally right.

But what I should also report to you is that I think there is a widespread consensus among most people who study the subject.

And of course, from this perspective, it was.

Barry Strauss recently wrote a book, Jews versus Rome, two centuries of rebellion against the world's mightiest empire.

and the Jews lost badly.

Within 40 years, their temple would be destroyed.

So there's a clip of Benjamin Netanyahu being asked by a journalist, what book do you have in your hand? And Benjamin Netanyahu says, Rome vs.

the Jews by Barry Strauss, the historian.

And the journalist asked him, why are you reading that book? And Netanyahu was like, well, it didn't work out for us well the first time, right? So...

israel but his dad wrote a book on that too yeah so israel sees itself at war not necessarily against the middle east but against the world especially the western world right because they see role because the

So there's a clip of Benjamin Netanyahu being asked by a journalist, what book do you have in your hand? And Benjamin Netanyahu says, Rome vs.

the Jews by Barry Strauss, the historian.

And the journalist asked him, why are you reading that book? And Netanyahu was like, well, it didn't work out for us well the first time, right? So...

But his dad wrote a book on that, too.

A new book, The War That Made the Roman Empire, Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium.

Barry Strauss, I welcome him.

He is the Bomar Chair of Humanistic Studies at Cornell University.

He is also my guide on these matters because I do not have the classical languages.

Antony was not a fool by any means, but I think that Octavian was a cut above him when he came to the political game and the power game.

All right, we need to bring in the heroine of this drama, or what you say, the femme fatale of the film noir that Barry tells us, Cleopatra, when we come back.

This is Barry Strauss.

The new book is The War That Made the Roman Empire, Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium.

And there are lurid stories about Commodus unquenchable appetite for sex and violence but he had six hundred concubines mostly young women and boys and that he slaughtered scores of men and wild animals in gladiatorial bloodbaths and that he rubbed his skin and hair with the blood of his victims But these tales should be taken with a large grain of salt.

For the article this episode is based on Howstuffworks spoke with Barry Strauss a classicist and military historian at Cornell University and author of nine books on ancient history.

He explained,"The ancient sources are full of malicious gossip about all the emperors." Though the sources were written either by senators or by people who made their living being paid by senators Marcus Aurelius was the most kind to the Senate so he got good press.

Commodus was just the opposite.